Anniversary
by Th3nerdy0ne
Summary: For Ash, this is the worst day of his life. Can a certain red-head make him feel better? My first fanfic. Hope you enjoy. Rated T because there is some talk about death and there's a death scene.


**Hello everybody and welcome to my very first fanfic set in the Pokémon universe. Just thought I'd post something to keep you all entertained while I make more adjustments to the main fanfic I'm writing. I'm pretty sure I got a few things wrong with the way this is written, for which I apologise. I'm not used to writing in this way. I mostly stick to script writing so, yeah.**

**Anyway, now for the disclaimer: **I do not own Pokémon. If I did, Misty would be back.

**On with the story:**

* * *

**Anniversary**

**By**

**Th3nerdy0ne**

Ash Ketchum woke from his sleep to the sun pouring down through the trees and the sound of talking a few feet away. As he pulled himself up from his sleeping bag and sat with his left leg bent up and the other stretched out, he rested his left arm on his bent leg and looked around the camp he and his friends had made.

They were currently travelling through Kanto and had set up camp for the night before they reached their next destination. As he looked around he saw his two travelling companions and best friends, Misty and Brock, who seemed to be deep in conversation about something, sitting around a small travelling stove with some kind of food being made on it. Normally, Ash would instantly jump out of his sleeping bag and rush over to see what was for breakfast. However today he couldn't, for two reasons.

One: Pikachu was still asleep and the sudden shock of being woken by Ash's love for food would've made the little mouse VERY mad. And Ash was in no mood to face the wrath of an angry Pikachu.

Two: Today was a day that he's always hated, as it brought back the memories of the day his life changed forever.

Misty turned towards Ash and noticed a very faraway look on his face as well as what looked like a small frown. _'I wonder what's eating him. Probably dreamt of some Pokémon and was disappointed that it was a dream.'_ She thought.

"Morning Ash." A voice called.

Ash snapped out of his daze and looked over to the source of the voice and saw Brock smiling at him. "Ready for some breakfast?" asked the breeder.

"Sure. What's cookin'?" Ash asked in a tired voice, at least that's what Brock thought it was.

"I thought I'd whip up some scrambled eggs and bacon. Sound good?" Brock asked.

Ash got up slowly and stretched a little before answering. "Sounds good Brock, I'm gonna go wash up." As Ash began walking towards a nearby river, Misty couldn't help but think she saw a hint of sadness on his face.

_'Is he upset about what's for breakfast? That's pretty stupid.' _She thought.

While Ash was gone, Misty decided to go and wake Pikachu for breakfast. As she knelt down beside the little mouse, she gently shook him to wake him up.

"Pikachu." She said softly, nothing. "Pikachu." She said again, a little louder this time. This time Pikachu stirred and opened his eyes a bit. When he saw Misty he smiled and said a happy "Chu" as a good morning. Misty smiled and scratched behind Pikachu's ear.

"Good morning to you too, buddy."

Pikachu let off a happy "Chaaa" and Misty gave a little giggle. Pikachu looked around for something and then up at Misty.

"Pi chu Pikapi?" It asked.

"Ash went to wash up by the river." Misty replied. Pikachu looked towards the river and had what looked like concern on his face. He then walked back with Misty to the campfire to wait for their food.

After breakfast, the gang were back on the road to their next destination. However Misty noticed that Ash still had a very distant look and a frown on his face.

_'Something has to be wrong with him if he's still like this.'_ She thought to herself.

She decided she'd just ask the troubled trainer what was wrong. "Ash?" She said. He didn't respond. "Ash." She tried again, a little louder this time. He still didn't respond. Misty could feel a little agitation coming on. "ASH!" She yelled. He still didn't respond. Anger finally taking over, Misty pulled out her mallet and ran towards Ash. Pikachu saw what was coming and instantly jumped off of Ash's shoulder.

The next thing Ash knew, he was on the ground with a very sore head. He looked up and saw Misty standing over him, breathing heavily from anger, with her mallet out. Ash stood up with a very angry look on his face.

"WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!" He yelled.

"FOR IGNORING ME WHEN I'M TRYING TO TALK TO YOU!" Misty yelled back.

"So instead of simply, oh I don't know, TAPPING ME ON THE SHOULDER, you thought it was a great idea TO HIT WITH A MALLET?!"

"IT GOT YOUR ATTENTION, DIDN'T IT?"

Before either of them could say anything else, they fell to ground as a large surge of electricity went through them. "Thanks Pikachu. That might've gotten ugly." Brock said with a sigh.

Pikachu smiled and gave a thumbs up to the breeder. As Ash and Misty got up and dusted themselves off, Brock walked up to them to try and keep things calm. "Ash, Misty was just worried about you. We both are." Ash gave Brock a quizzical look. "Why are you worried?"

Misty spoke this time, a little more softly "Because we've noticed that ever since you woke up this morning you've been very quiet and distant. Is something wrong?"

Pikachu, already knowing why Ash was acting this way, jumped on to Ash's shoulder and nuzzled his cheek into Ash's to give him some comfort. Ash let out a long sigh and scratched Pikachu behind the ears.

"Look, I appreciate your concern, I really do. But it's nothing, honest."

Misty walked over to him and put her hand on the shoulder not occupied by Pikachu. "Ash, it can't be nothing. You've been acting like this is the worst day of your life."

Ash looked Misty in the eyes and saw nothing but concern in them. Before he could say anything, however, the group was instantly enveloped in smoke. As the group were coughing due to inhaling the smoke, three very familiar laughs could be heard. _'Oh great.' _They all thought at the same time.

Jessie: "Prepare for trouble!"

James: "And make it double!"

Jessie: "To protect the world from devastation!"

James: "To unite all peoples within ou-"

"PIKACHU, THUNDERBOLT!" Before team rocket could even react, they were hit by a strong surge of electricity, causing their balloon to explode and send them flying.

"Hey, we didn't even get to finish our motto." James whined. "Who does that twerp think he is, sending us blasting off this early?" Jessie yelled angrily. "I guess dis is as long as our cameo lasts." Meowth exclaimed with a sigh.

All together: "Cause it looks like team rockets blasting off again!" *ping*

Misty and Brock looked over at Ash with wide eyes. Ash looked from the sky towards them and shrugged. "What? I'm really not in the mood for those three today." Misty spoke up first

"Oh, we're not complaining, we're just wondering why we never thought to do that before."

Ash nodded and then gestured for them to continue on. Before they did however, Brock spoke up. "Ash wait, you still haven't told us what's wrong."

Ash sighed very heavily and turned to face his friends. "Look, I really don't want to talk about it, okay?" Misty spoke up next "But why, Ash?" Ash was starting to get annoyed at them for pressing him further, but he tried his best to keep calm. "I'm asking you, as my friends, drop it." He said sternly, crossing his arms. Misty and Brock were taken back by his tone. They never heard him get this serious before. Not even in battles.

Seeing that they wouldn't get any answers, they simply nodded and continued on to the next town.

* * *

When they arrived at the next town it was the afternoon. They entered the towns Pokémon Center and booked a room for the night. After the room was booked Ash and Co. went out for lunch and to sight see around town. While walking around, Ash noticed a flower shop which he immediately entered without a second thought. He told Brock and Misty to go on without him as he entered the shop and said he'd catch up. Misty and Brock shared a worried glance at each other before heading off without him.

When Ash exited the shop he went straight back to the Pokémon Center with Pikachu, sat at a videophone and rang his mom at Pallet Town. During their conversation, Ash sent her what he bought from the flower shop. Two white roses. One of which was for her. After their conversation, Ash hung up the phone and sat in the lobby of the Pokémon Center, just watching out the window as the sun began to set over the horizon.

A few minutes later, Misty and Brock returned with some food. They all sat in the lobby eating their dinner and watching the sun set. After dinner they all went to their room and got settled for the night. During the night Ash was restless. He looked at the clock across from his bed to see the time. It was only 11:05. With a quiet sigh, Ash carefully got out of bed as to not wake Pikachu and left the room to sit in the lobby. Little did he know that not everyone was asleep. Misty saw Ash leave the room and decided that she was going to find out what was wrong once and for all. So, she got out of bed, crept quietly over to the door and followed Ash.

When she reached the lobby she began to look around for the raven-haired trainer. Her gaze turned to the couch they were all sitting at at dinner and saw Ash sitting silently with his head down. She approached the boy quietly and once she was close enough she noticed that he was looking at something in his hand. Upon closer inspection she saw that it was a picture however she still couldn't get a good look at what was in the picture.

Misty decided to make her presence known and put her hand on Ash's shoulder. The sudden contact made Ash jump a little and turned to see who his visitor was. When he saw that it was Misty, he relaxed a bit. She smiled at him and sat down next to him.

"A little late to be up and about don't ya think?" Misty asked jokingly. Ash let off a small chuckle and then went back to looking at the picture in his hand.

Upon closer inspection, Misty noticed tear stains on Ash's cheeks. This instantly got Misty worried. "Ash! Why are you crying?"

Ash's eyes widened and he immediately looked away from Misty and began rubbing his eyes furiously to get rid of any traces of tears. Misty reached out and put her hand on Ash's to get his attention. He turned to face her and she noticed just how red his eyes were thanks to the moonlight.

"What's wrong, Ash? Please tell me."

Ash and Misty just looked in each other's eyes for a few minutes before Ash gave what was probably his fiftieth sigh that day. Looking down at his hand, he handed Misty the picture. "You've never seen my dad before have you?" Misty shook her head "No, I haven't." She said as she took the picture from Ash and looked at it.

In the picture, there was a young Delia Ketchum, a not too younger Ash Ketchum and a man that looked a lot like Ash but older. Except for the eyes, the eyes were blue instead of russet. They were all smiling and standing outside their home in Pallet. "You all look so happy." Misty exclaimed as she looked back at Ash. He nodded and smiled.

"That was Christmas two years ago, our last Christmas together." Ash choked a little at the last part. This caught Misty's attention

"What happened?" She asked.

Ash took in a deep breath to try and stop his shaking. Once the shaking settled, he continued. "He died." He finally managed to get out "It was a car accident on his way home from work in Cerulean. Today's the anniversary of his death."

Misty's hand went over her heart as she heard this "Oh, Ash. I'm so sorry. That's why you were..." She trailed off. Ash nodded.

"You would've liked him. He was always happy. Never got angry or yelled if I misbehaved. He just always smiled and said that I took after him." As Ash said this, a few more tears began falling down his cheeks.

Misty saw this and moved her hand up to wipe the tears away with her thumb. Ash looked back at her and it broke her heart seeing the amount sadness in his eyes. She wrapped her arms around Ash and pulled him into a hug which he reciprocated instantly and allowed more tears to fall.

"It's okay Ash. It's okay. Let it all out." She said comfortingly as she rocked back and forth with him. After a few minutes Ash finally settled down a bit. Feeling this, Misty pulled out from the hug and looked at Ash. He looked down to the floor and laughed a little.

"He always said to me 'Ash, one day you'll become a great Pokémon trainer and an even greater master'." He said with a smile. "And when he died I promised myself that I'd make him proud and become the greatest Pokémon master in the world."

Misty smiled at this. But there was something in the back of her head telling her to ask quite a bizarre question.

"Ash, I don't know why I'm asking, but what car was your dad in?"

Ash looked at Misty with a quizzical face "A red jeep with-"

"A green stripe going across the doors?" Misty cut in. Ash's eyes widened.

"Yeah, how did you know!?"

Misty gasped at this sudden realization and looked down to the ground as if thinking of something. After about a minute, Misty finally spoke. "Ash, I was there when that happened." She said, just above a whisper. Ash gasped and moved back slightly from shock.

"What?" was all he could think to say at that moment. Misty took a deep breath and continued.

"I was with Daisy at the time. She took me with her to go get her hair done and to buy new clothes, despite my protests of wanting to go, and as we were walking down the road..."

* * *

**[Flashback]**

"Daisy, remind me again why I have to come?" Whined a young Misty, as she was being dragged by Daisy through the streets of Cerulean City. The sun was shining brightly and the sky was crystal clear.

"Because little sis, I like need an extra pair of hands to hold some of my bags." Daisy exclaimed.

Misty let out heavy sigh and was about to snap at her older sister. But they both stopped in their tracks when they heard the sound of a car screeching behind them. Turning around, their eyes widened at what they saw next.

A red jeep with green stripes on the doors was swerving out of the way of a kid grabbing a ball in the middle of the road. The jeep missed the child but the momentum of the jeep swerving caused it to instantly roll until it hit a tree. Misty and Daisy, as well as a few other people, ran to the car to see if the occupant was alright.

Two people ran to the driver's side and pulled the driver out. He looked to be in his late 20's, with raven-dark hair with one or two gray hairs and blue eyes. Someone yelled to call an ambulance while someone else placed a rolled up jacket underneath his head. Misty got a little closer to see the man.

As she got closer, she noticed that there was a large stain of blood on his shirt coming from his chest. The man turned and looked at Misty when he noticed her presence. He gave her a warm looking smile and she couldn't help but smile back. Then for some reason, she didn't know why, she took the man's hand and squeezed it gently to comfort him. The man squeezed back as a tear escaped his eye. He gave Misty one last smile before he closed his eyes. As he did this, Misty felt his grip loosen and suddenly go cold.

The sudden shock of the cold forced her to drop the man's hand and back up a little. She looked at the man and saw no sign of movement at all. The ambulance arrived shortly after, and the paramedics asked everyone to clear the area.

* * *

**[End Flashback]**

Misty had been looking at the ground the entire time she was talking. She was afraid to look Ash in the eyes for what she might see. After a deep breath she summoned up enough courage to look up at him. Ash was just staring with a blank expression and a few tears. Neither of them said anything. They just continued staring into each other's eyes. Then Ash spoke.

"Thank you." This took her by surprise.

"For what?" She asked.

Ash smiled and surprised Misty even more with a strong hug. "For comforting my dad when he was probably terrified." He said through the hug, tears coming down freely again.

Misty wrapped her Arms around Ash and reciprocated the hug. "You're welcome Ash." She whispered.

The two just sat there for what felt like hours, but was actually a few minutes, in each other's embrace. After another few minutes passed, Misty broke out of the hug slowly and smiled at Ash, who smiled back. "Your dad would be very proud of you, Ash." Misty said sincerely. Ash simply nodded then looked out the window towards the stars.

"I know he'd be." He whispered to himself.

Ash got up from the couch and offered a hand to help Misty up, which she gratefully accepted and they made their way back to their room. "One thing still bothers me, though." Misty said, as they entered their room.

"And what's that?" Ash asked as he got into bed.

"The way he smiled at me. A complete stranger, someone he's never met before. He smiled like he knew me his whole life." She got into her bed above Ash's then looked over the side towards him. He shrugged.

"Makes sense to me." He said. Misty raised an eye brow at this.

"Really?"

Ash closed his eyes and turned to his side. "Yeah, your face is enough to make any one laugh." A vein appeared on Misty's forehead.

"And what's that supposed to mean Ash Ketchum?!"

Ash shrugged. "Nothing at all. G'night, Mist."

Misty simply turned over to face the wall with a 'hmph', but on the inside she couldn't help but be happy.

'_He's back.' _She thought happily.

**And this was my first story ladies a gentleman. I hope you all enjoyed it and any reviews are greatly accepted. Let me know what I did right and wrong please so that way I can improve upon them. Again I apologise if the way the story's written is wrong but like I said, I'm not used to writing in this format. Give me a while and I'm sure I'll get used to it. Still currently working on the first chapter of my main fanfic and it should be out soon. Until then, live long and prosper and may the force be with you.**


End file.
